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February 14, 2003     "Valentine’s Day Creed:  BURN YOUR LIST"

 

Exodus 34:14 tells us that one of the names of Yahweh is "Jealous."  The word "jealous" is the Hebrew word "qanna" which carries the idea of someone who demands exclusive service.  It means that God will not tolerate unfaithfulness; he wants us to be intimately exclusive only to HIM.  (*Read Jeremiah 1-4 to get the picture!)  He doesn’t even want our eyes to wander.  As it is with earthly relationships, even letting your eyes stray to another arouses unobjectionable jealousy.  This is the context for understanding the jealousy that is aroused in the Lover in respect to his people who were constantly "sleeping around" with Asherah, Amurru, El, and Baal.  The Jealous Lover commanded them in Exodus 20 to "have no other gods before Me."  We often think that this means not to have anything above God in our lives.  He should be #1.  Maybe we’ve even written that in our friends’ yearbooks "Keep God #1"  While I understand the spirit of that idea, pardon me, but it is entirely inaccurate.  The pagan cultures of that day had a pantheon, an assembly of gods who ruled.  Each pantheon had a deity who was head of the pantheon.  The 1st commandment is a direct command NOT to think of God that way.  Yahweh is not to be considered the "top dog" in a group of others.  He should not be considered the most important thing in our life.  Before you say "burn the heretic at the stake," let me continue.  According to this command, we are not to make God the most important thing in our life; WE ARE TO MAKE HIM THE ONLY THING.  Exclusiveness.  No room for another.  The words "before Me" in the 1st commandment can be better understood by reading it "in My presence!"  God should be the only Name on your list.

   Would I, better "could I", ever write my wife Kim a romantic poem telling her that she is #1"she is the best of the others "she is at the top of my list"?  Her reply would be apropos "List?  What list?"  And she’s right there is no list!  The day I said "I will" and put the ring on my finger I burned the list.  I shouted to the world, "I am a one-woman man now!"  SHE IS THE ONLY ONE.   And so it should be with Jealous.

 

Are you presently the  "you" of James 4:4?

BURN YOUR LIST!